


Impulse Control

by were_lemur



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Episode: s03e13 Last of the Time Lords, Gen, Horror
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-25
Updated: 2013-03-25
Packaged: 2017-12-06 10:21:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/734573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/were_lemur/pseuds/were_lemur
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Doctor has figured out a way to make the Master good.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Impulse Control

When the Doctor finally lets him wake up, the pink healing skin over the bullet wound is barely even tender, and he almost doesn't notice the other scar, the one on the back of his head, until the Doctor says "I've figured out how to make you good."

And that's when he realizes he's living in a nightmare.

*

The device the Doctor's planted in his brain doesn't know what he's thinking, but it might as well. It monitors the electrical impulses to a tiny section of his brain, the one that activates when he's thinking of violence, the one that lights up when the drums pound through him.

And when the impulses pass a certain level, the implant sends a charge to another part of his brain, a shock to his nerves, a jolt of white-hot pain that's unpleasant the first time and by the fifth, he's breathing deeply and thinking of lying on red grass, of floating on clouds, of anything but what he wants to do to the Doctor for doing this to him, and finally he has enough control that it stops.

"See?" the Doctor says. "Isn't that better?"

He imagines punching the Doctor and another shock hits, leaving him gasping.

*

He's always been a fast learner, and he's always been good at control. It doesn't take him long to learn to regulate his thoughts, even when the drumbeats pound against the inside of his skull.

But sometimes the drums are too loud, and sometimes the Doctor's beneficent smile is too much to bear, and he'll lock himself in his room, shove a balled pair of socks into his mouth to muffle his screams, and imagine what he'll do to the Doctor if he ever gets the chance.


End file.
